An inquest into the death of an Aboriginal man in custody has heard the nurse who treated the man in prison wasn't informed about seizures he'd had the night before.
Tane Chatfield was found unconscious in his Tamworth Prison cell on September 20, 2017, and died two days later in hospital. At the time, it was deemed a suicide.
Mr Chatfield, 22, had been in prison for two years on remand.
On the night of September 19, Mr Chatfield had two seizures and was taken to Tamworth Hospital about midnight, the coroner heard.
He returned to prison the next morning and was assessed by Nurse Unit Manager Janeen Adams.
Ms Adams, in her evidence to the inquest, said she hadn't received the discharge notes from the hospital when she saw Mr Chatfield about 8:00am and relied on what he and a corrections officer Harrison Fittler told her.
She said Mr Chatfield told her he went to the hospital because "he felt unwell" and said she was sure neither man mentioned the seizures.
"I asked Mr Chatfield how he felt now, and he said 'fine', and I asked if there was anything else wrong and he said 'no miss'," she recalled.
"He was alert, he answered questions appropriately and he appeared well and based on the fact he had been discharged to go back to the community, I decided that he be 'sick in cell' to rest until he could be reviewed."
Mr Chatfield was sent back to his cell, where he rested alone.
Ms Adams told the inquest she likely wouldn't have allowed Mr Chatfield to go back to his cell alone had she known about the seizures.
Ms Adams said the discharge note arrived at the clinic at 8.20am, according to the time stamp on the fax, and another nurse was arranging to have him brought back at 9:00am.
He was found unconscious in his cell that morning.
In a tense exchange with the Chatfield family's lawyer Joe Blackshield, Ms Adams conceded that she had another document in her email detailing the seizures, but she hadn't read it yet as she was busy treating another patient.
"Had you sighted that, you would've had the clinical indication to take further steps?" Mr Blackshield asked.
"Yes … I was on the floor with patient care," she replied.
